Doomsday Wonderland

He has been rotating his life in Twelve Worlds Centrum for over three years, relying on specialized detection of pocket dimensions. He has seen more than a hundred different pocket dimensions, and to date, he hasn’t encountered a single hopeless dead end.

Indeed, the “driver” has a.s.signed roles to two groups of people, and from the perspective of role distribution, it seems unfair. But this problem can be viewed from another angle: for the “meat chickens” who inadvertently enter the activity site, escaping this predicament itself is their pocket dimension challenge. Their goal is to survive – fundamentally, there is no difference between them and someone who accidentally enters a fiery pocket dimension.

Since there is a goal to clear, there must be the ability to complete it. For the “meat chickens” to survive, there are only two ways: to run or to fight back.

“Th-then let’s run,” Abby said while gasping for breath, finally understanding from their intermittent conversation. Lowering her voice like Wu Yiliu had when explaining the situation, she said, “As long as we don’t go back to the camping cabin, like running back to the central area, we should be fine, right?”

Wu Yiliu shook his head. The option to run had only lingered in his mind for a few seconds and was never considered again.

Years ago, Milan said that he had “no human flavor,” and he never forgot that comment. But later, he gradually realized that ordinary people didn’t seem like him, able to be almost ruthlessly firm. He had little to do with thoughts like “compromise a little,” “close enough,” or “both take a step back.” Whatever decision he felt was right had to be pushed to the extreme, even if a mistake meant it was irretrievable.

In his view, running was a dragging, hesitant decision that would lead to endless troubles.

“I won’t run, and I suggest you don’t either,” Wu Yiliu whispered as much as possible. “We’re not in the camping cabin right now, and that didn’t prevent one of the players from attacking me just now. If the area around the cabin is considered part of the playing field, how do you know how far to run or where to run to escape? We don’t even know if the pocket dimension will allow us to leave. Besides, even if you escape successfully, then what? They know who we are; we don’t know who they are. If they don’t want you talking after you leave, you won’t even know who to guard against.”

“So, you mean…”

“It’s simple,” Wu Yiliu whispered, glancing back at the dark forest. “These four players cannot leave the pocket dimension.”

Even if Abby had vaguely guessed, she was still shocked by his words, stammering, “Wh-what? That organization will take revenge for them—”

“Revenge for what?” Wu Yiliu countered, keeping his voice very low, almost drowned out by the rain and footsteps. “They failed in the pocket dimension. Who are they going to take revenge on? For that organization, we’re just ‘meat chickens’ who don’t understand the situation. They may think that the pocket dimension had an accident or implemented a failure penalty, but they have no reason to think that we intentionally fought back.”

“Even though entering a new pocket dimension test isn’t done by important people, people still die. The organization might send people to question us, to trouble us…”

“We have to report the situation of the pocket dimension to them after we leave, right?” Wu Yiliu said. “We’ll submit a regular report. The more normal we behave, the less suspicious we’ll be. And the information we provide—the only information at that time—if planned well, can mislead them, making them look in other directions.”

Abby paused, saying, “But, even if you say so… what can we do to them? Their bodies aren’t here; we can’t even see those players.”

“That’s why we need to think about what abilities or items can be used, what we can take advantage of.”

Biting her lip and hesitating, Abby nodded. “But I don’t know how to use them. I can’t even see them…”

She was saved by Wu Yiliu from a fate akin to death, and besides feelings of grat.i.tude and dependence toward him, she had involuntarily fallen into a more compliant and dependent secondary position. Her opposition was no longer equal to Wu Yiliu’s opinion as it was at first—this point, he saw even more clearly than she did. Just one more insistence on his part, and Abby would comply.

“It’s fine, what do you have? What are your abilities?” Wu Yiliu asked. “I understand them better, perhaps I can come up with a plan.”

Abby opened her mouth. Normally, a posthuman wouldn’t simply reveal their trump cards, but the situation was really special at the moment—after hesitating for quite a while, she finally pulled his arm, saying, “I don’t have anything good either,” and then whispered a few words into his ear.

The sound of rain was still heavy.

Wu Yiliu often felt that the world was like a boundless pool filled with puzzle pieces. If you randomly grabbed a handful, you couldn’t see what picture they could make. But the difference between the real world and puzzles is that puzzle pieces have fixed shapes and specific places, whereas the information in the real world doesn’t. The same piece of information, depending on where you place it and what you connect it to, will take on different forms and functions.

Regardless of whether Abby really gave everything away, at least the information she provided allowed him to see a new way of connecting.

After running in the forest for a while, Wu Yiliu slowed down until he finally stopped and looked around.

“We’re getting close to the camp house,” he said, taking back his gaze. “Let’s not rush in; first, we’ll observe the situation… Do you see Pence and Cuining? It seems like there’s no one in the hall.”

He turned his head and exchanged a glance with Abby. She was stunned for a few seconds before frowning and saying, “Could they have already been brainwashed and are in the forest looking for us?”

“It’s very likely. The last time I saw Pence, he was already wearing that pullover,” Wu Yiliu said. “Let’s observe for a while. If they are gone, we can go inside.”

When the downpour finally showed signs of weakening and the pale mist-like daylight seemed to reclaim its territory, both of them felt that the time was almost right.

Wu Yiliu took a breath and straightened his collar. Abby looked at the small patch of white in his collar, nodded, and said, “We’re ready.”

“Let’s go.”

Led by Wu Yiliu, with Abby following behind, the two quickly pa.s.sed through a small patch of shade. Wu Yiliu stopped and stretched out his hand to push the door, but he did not go in, only peered inside. Then he took a step forward, standing sideways at the entrance, gesturing for Abby to go in.

“You go in first,” he said. “I’ll watch the back; I’m a little uneasy.”

Abby bit her lip and nodded.

s.p.a.ce was limited, and due to his position, Abby had to squeeze by him to pa.s.s—Wu Yiliu himself felt like he was taking advantage of the situation. The two were briefly very close, and Abby’s hair, clothes, and skin were all soaked through, sending a damp, moss-like scent into his nose.